Sugarcane-maize intercropping is an important planting pattern in sugarcane production areas. This practice favors sugarcane production, improves land use efficiency and decreases the need for pesticide use. However, the effects of sugarcane and maize intercropping on the rhizosphere’s microbial community have been less reported. In this study, a plot experiment in Yuanjiang and Longchuan sugarcane fields (Yunnan province) was carried out to investigate microbial activity, metabolic function diversity and carbon sources utilization using Biolog techniques. Results showed that Shannon index, Simpson index, Mc Intosh index and evenness index of Shannon and Mc Intosh of microbial communities in rhizosphere soils of intercropped sugarcane increased by 7.08%, 11.25%, 63.16%, 1.31% and 2.26%, respectively, compared to sugarcane monoculture at Longchuan. When comparing intercropping with monoculture in Yuanjiang, the indices mentioned above were 10.58%, 48.40%, 43.42%, 0.20%, and 1.65% higher, respectively. Those results suggest that intercropping practices increased the metabolic diversity of rhizosphere microbial communities. Although the utilization of carbon increased in intercropping systems, it was lower at Yuanjiang site than at Longchuan site. Compared with monoculture, the utilization of carbohydrate, amino acids, polymeric substances, amines, carboxylic acids and phenolic acids increased by 141.71%, 50.53%, 62.38%, 92.82%, 43.21% and 6.30%, respectively, at Yuanjiang. The same variables increased respectively by 42.90%, 51.50%, 33.30%, 42.64%, 16.72% and 24.47% at Longchuan. The utilization of D-cellobiose, D, L-α-glycerol phosphate, D-galactonic acid-γ-lactone, L-serine, Glycyl-L-Glutamine and 2-Hydroxy benzoic acid increased by over 100% at both sites. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) suggest that intercropping changed rhizosphere soil microbial community composition and metabolic function. Three carbon resources (including carbohydrate, carboxylic acids and amino acids) were the most sensitive carbon sources. In summary, intercropping of maize and sugarcane increased microbial community diversity, activity and metabolic function of the rhizosphere.